Tom Boasberg, whose innovations as superintendent of Denver Public Schools earned him national recognition as well as critics, is stepping aside after 10 years to bring in fresh leadership and to spend more time with his family.

Colorado’s governor and one of its current U.S senators heaped praise on Boasberg for boosting student achievement in the state’s largest school district. But Boasberg admits more needs to be done to cut the achievement gap between minority and low-income students and their more affluent peers.

“Serving as DPS’s leader has been the honor of a lifetime for me,” the 52-year-old Boasberg wrote in a letter to DPS staff and community Tuesday. “The talent and commitment of our students and our educators never cease to inspire me. Spending time in classrooms, meeting with students, and collaborating with teachers, school leaders and district leaders have brought me great joy and given me great hope.”

But, Boasberg said, he made the difficult decision to leave DPS this summer. He said his children were 8, 6 and 4 years old when he began as superintendent with DPS. In May, his oldest daughter graduated from high school.

“After much reflection, I have decided it is time for me to step down to fulfill my commitment to my family and pass the torch of leadership,” Boasberg said.

Boasberg was appointed superintendent in 2009 by the school board to succeed Michael Bennet, who was picked to fill an empty U.S. Senate seat. Boasberg, a Yale- and Stanford-educated attorney, joined DPS in 2007 after serving as a senior telecommunications executive at Level 3 Communications to become the district’s chief financial officer under Bennet. He and Bennet were childhood friends.

Boasberg continued reforms initiated by Bennet, which included closing or replacing struggling schools.

Under Boasberg, DPS refined the criteria for when low-performing schools should be replaced. However, the rollout of the policy has been delayed by the school board to get more input from parents and community members who felt closures were being decided too quickly.

Charter schools, public schools that operate independently from a central office, have been expanded under Boasberg and sometimes share campuses with traditional schools. Schools of innovation, which are free of certain rules and regulations, also gained favor under Boasberg.

Critics, including parents and at least two of the newest school board members, have said Boasberg allowed charter schools to overshadow and take resources away from long-standing neighborhood schools.

Boasberg told the education website Chalkbeat that he’s most proud that numbers of black and Latino students graduating from high school and going to college have nearly doubled in the past 10 years. In 2006, 1,706 black and Latino students graduated from high school. In 2017, 3,148 graduated from high school, according to DPS.

Still, the graduation rates and test scores of students of color and those from low-income families continue to lag behind the scores of white and affluent students. This in a district where 76 percent of the population is made up of students of color, and 67 percent of students qualify for free and reduced-priced lunch, an indicator of poverty.

Boasberg said closing those achievement gaps continues to be the district’s greatest challenge.

“We’ve been absolutely focused on that — and our data says we haven’t done enough, and we need to be more, and we need to do better,” Boasberg told Chalkbeat on Monday. “For my successor, and likely my successor’s successor, that will be the No. 1 challenge.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper, whose son is a DPS student, and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, father of two DPS graduates, thanked Boasberg for his work.

“As a DPS graduate and a DPS parent, I know firsthand Tom has led DPS with integrity and commitment,” Hancock said. “His focus on success for all kids has greatly improved our schools and provided better opportunities for all students to live their dreams.”

Hickenlooper said Boasberg has helped transform DPS into one the fastest-improving school districts in America. “I applaud Tom … for driving the innovations that are creating a brighter future for tens of thousands of young people in every corner of the city,” Hickenlooper said.

Bennet, a DPS parent, also thanked Boasberg for leading DPS over the past 10 years. “As Tom always says himself, we have a long way to go, but his transformational leadership has resulted in extraordinary progress over the past 10 years,” Bennet said in a statement Tuesday.

Boasberg is leaving a $242,125 annual salary as superintendent for the 92,600-student school district, Colorado’s largest. He will continue to serve for 90 days, as his contract with the district requires. The Denver school board will have to pick his successor.

Board of education members met Tuesday and were meeting again this week to discuss the process of selecting a new superintendent. They will soon announce next steps, board president Anne Rowe said.

Rowe hailed Boasberg in a letter to the DPS staff and the community.

“Tom’s leadership, in partnership with our educators, has had a profound impact on Denver Public Schools,” Rowe said. “We are in a every way a better district than a decade ago, and our students, families and educators have all benefited from his service.”

Rowe noted Boasberg’s 10-year tenure is nearly three times longer than the average 3.5-year term of an urban superintendent in America.

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